Handrest attachment for artist{40 s easel

ABSTRACT

A handrest attachment for conventional leg-supported artist&#39;&#39;s easels includes a long notched upright support member offset at one side of the easel in the approximate plane of the easel&#39;&#39;s front legs for supporting one end of a maulstick. The support member is attached to the easel by a horizontal brace connected to the easel&#39;&#39;s front legs and by the easel&#39;&#39;s work support. The notched maulstick support has a series of notches along its length, each sized to receive only a reduced end portion of the maulstick. The loose connection between the maulstick and its support permits limited pivoting movement of the maulstick while restricting its axial movement while the opposite end of the maulstick is held in the artist&#39;&#39;s nonworking hand and while the working hand rests on the maulstick.

United States Patent 1191 Cortimilia [451 June 11, 1974 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 7/1922 Great Britain 211/123 Primary Examiner-J. Franklin Foss Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Klarquist, Sparkman, Campbell, Leigh, Hall & Whinston [5 7 ABSTRACT A handrest attachment for conventional leg-supported artists easels includes a long notched upright support member offset at one side of the easel in the approximate plane of the easels front legs for supporting one end of a maulstick. The support member is attached to the easel by a horizontal brace connected to the easels front legs and by the easels work support. The notched maulstick support has a series of notches along its length, each sized to receive only a reduced end portion of the maulstick. The loose connection between the maulstick and its support permits limited pivoting movement of the maulstick while restricting its axial movement while the opposite end of the maulstick is held in the artists nonworking hand and while the working hand rests on the maulstick.

v7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures HANDREST ATTACHMENT FOR ARTISTS EASEL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a handrest attachment for an artists easel.

2. Description of the Prior Art A maulstick is a well-known device used by artists to rest and thus steady their working hand while they are painting or drawing at an easel. The ordinary maulstick is simply a small-diameter, straight wooden stick having a rubber tip at one end. The rubber-tipped end of the stick is held against the artists working surface, such as a canvas, by force applied by the artists nonworking hand while gripping the opposite end of the maulstick. The artists working hand is rested on an intermediate portion of the stick as he works.

Although the conventional maulstick described may be satisfactory for professional artists, who are skilled and familiar with its use, it is generally unsatisfactory for most amateur artists and particularly older artists whose hands are not as steady or as strong as they once were. Substantial effort and skill are required for an artist to hold the rubber-tipped end of the maulstick firmly against the work surface with one hand while painting or drawing with the other hand resting on the stick. Any slippage of the rubber-tipped end over the working surface is likely to result in a smear or smudge on the work or an unintentional stroke of the brush, pen or other drawing instrument.

Consequently there is a distinct need for a handrest attachment for easels that will enable an artist to support easily a maulstick with a minimum of effort and without danger of causing imperfections in his work while his working hand rests on the maulstick.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, an improved hand-steadying attachment for an easel is provided which greatly simplifies the use of a maulstick by the artist and which can be used by amateur artists and professional artists with equal facility.

The attachment of the invention includes a generally upright maulstick support member offset to one side of the front of an easel and supported by lateral extensions from the easel. A front face portion of the support member includes a series of vertically spaced-apart notches. The maulstick itself is specially designed with a short mounting section near one end of reduced cross section for insertion selectively into one of the several notches depending on the height on the work surface at which the artist desires to work. The support maintains the maulstick in spaced relation to the working surface on the ease] while the opposite end of the maulstick is held loosely in the artists non-working hand.

The relative size of the mounting section of the maulstick and the notches are such that the artist can pivot the stick within limits about its mounting section within a given notch to permit limited variation in the height at which the artist works without changing notches. However, the mounting section of the maulstick can be shifted from one notch to another quickly and easily when changing vertical working positions on the working surface.

Because of shoulders defined by the reduced mounting section of the maulstick, the maulstick cannot inadvertently slip axially from a notch. Also, because the notches angle downwardly and inwardly into the support member, the natural pressure of the artists working hand on the maulstick prevents the stick from slipping forwardly from a notch.

Provision is also made for vertical adjustment of the maulstick support member relative to the height of the easel.

A primary object of the invention is'to provide a handrest attachment, including a maulstick, for easels that greatly simplifies the use of the maulstick so that it can be used by amateur as well as professional artists, thereby enabling amateurs to improve the quality of their work and increase their enjoyment of painting and drawing.

Another important object is to provide an attachment as aforesaid which enables the use of a maulstick continuously for long periods of time without fatigue by those with unsteady hands.

A further important object is to provide a handsteadying attachment for easels that does not contact the artists working surface on the easel.

Other objects are to provide a handrest attachment which is adaptable for use with most types of easels and which is both simple and inexpensive to produce.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a conventional artists easel with a handrest attachment in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the easel and attachment of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION With reference to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows a conventional artists easel 10 having three legs'extending in tripod fashion from a head 15, including two front legs 12, 13 and a single rear leg 14. A horizontal work support member 16 is attached to the front legs and has opposite ends extending laterally outwardly beyond the legs. The easel as described thus far is conventional.

The handrest attachment for the easel includes a notched maulstick support member 18 mounted in an upright position at one side of the easel. The support member is of right angular cross section and includes intersecting rear and forward flange portions 18a, 18b respectively. As evident from FIG. 2, support member 18 is supported in approximately the plane of the front legs l2, 13 of easel 10, with the forward flange 18b extending forwardly of such legs.

The means mounting support member 18 to the easel in this fashion includes a horizontally extending elongate brace member 20 attached at one end at 21 to an upper rear flange portion of support member 18. The brace extends behind the two front legs l2, 13 of the easel and is attached to both such legs at 22 and 23 by suitable fasteners, such as bolts and wing nuts. The same type of fastener may be used for connecting the brace to the support member. A lower portion of support member 18 is attached at 24 to an adjacent end of the easels work support 16. Again the fastening means for this purpose may be a bolt and wing nut, whereby the entire attachment may be quickly connected to and disconnected from the easel for transport or storage.

The forwardly extending flange 18b of the support member has a forward edge face 180 provided at equally spaced intervals along its length with a series of notches 18d. Each notch 18d extends inwardly and downwardly at an angle of approximately 45 from its forward opening to resist inadvertent removal of a maulstick forwardly from a notch.

The handrest attachment further includes a long, straight maulstick 28 having a first end portion 28a adapted to be held in an artists nonworking hand and a second end portion 28b adapted to be supported selectively in any one of the several notches in support member 18. The intermediate portion of the maulstick between such ends is, of course, intended to support the artists working hand as he paints or draws on his canvas or other working surface at the easel.

The maulstick is preferably, but not necessarily, of circular cross section of substantially uniform diameter throughout its major length. However, the supported end portion 28b includes a short mounting section 30 of reduced diameter spaced inwardly along the length of the stick from the extreme end tip 31 of the stick. The notches 18d of the support member and the reduced mounting section 30 of the maulstick are sized so that the mounting section of the stick can be slipped into any selected notch only through the forward end opening of the notch. However, sufficient tolerance is provided between the size of notches 28d and reduced mounting section 30 so that the maulstick can be pivoted within limits about its mounting section when the stick is in a notch. This feature facilitates slight height adjustments while the artist is working without the need for changing notches. The shoulders provided by the reduced mounting section 30 restrict axial slippage of the stick and thereby prevent accidental removal of the stick from a notch in an axial direction. Furthermore, the natural weight or pressure of the artists hand resting on the stick will retain its mounting section in a selected notch due to the downwardly angled nature of the notches.

The tip 31 of the maulstick is preferably capped with rubber or any other suitable resilient friction material so that the maulstick optionally may be used in a more conventional manner without the support 18 if desired.

The hand-held end 28a of the maulstick and the corresponding end of brace are provided with cooperative means, such as hook 34 on the brace and hole 35 through the maulstick, for hanging the maulstick from the brace when the maulstick is not in use.

The rear flange 18a of the maulstick support member is provided with additional bolt holes 18e, 18f

A typical example of an attachment which has been found to operate satisfactorily in conjunction with a floor-supported easel includes a support member 30 inches long having a flange width of 3 inches. The notches are spaced l V: inches apart on center along the length of the forward flange, are /2 inch wide and extend into the flange to a depth of V2 inch at an angle of 45 from the forward surface of the flange. The maulstick is 30 inches long and inch in diameter with the mounting section being reduced to a A inch diameter over a length of l /2 inches. The upper brace for the support member also has an overall length of 30 inches and is of rectangular cross section 3/4 inch thick by l inch deep. Four 3/16 inch diameter flathead bolts are used to attach the brace to the front legs of the easel and the vertical support member to the brace and work support, with the bolt holes being countersunk and the bolts being placed so that their heads do not protrude from their engaged members.

The attachment shown is, of course, for a righthanded artist, with the left-hand end of the maulstick of FIG. 1 being held in the artists left hand and with the artists right or working hand resting on any portion of the length of the stick between the opposite ends depending on where on the working surface he is painting or drawing. For a left-handed artist the attachment would, of course, simply be reversed on the easel.

Support member 18 need not be of angular cross section. For example, such member could be of rectangular or any other cross-sectional shape with the forward face being provided with any suitable notch-defining means. For example, instead of notches extending into the surface of the member, a simple support member might include simply a series of nails driven into the forward face of the support member at spaced intervals, preferably downwardly at an angle, such nails thus defining a series of notch means for supporting the reduced end section of the maulstick.

Having illustrated and described what is presently a preferred form of my invention, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the same permits of modification in form, size, arrangement, and detail. I claim as my invention all such modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A handrest attachment for an artist's easel including a maulstick,

said maulstick comprising a thin, elongate, substantially rigid and straight member including first and second opposite end portions separated by a relatively long intermediate portion upon which the artist rests his working hand,

said first end portion being adapted to be held in the artists nonworking hand, said intermediate portion being of substantially uniform cross-sectional dimension throughout at least a major portion of its length,

said second end portion being adapted for loose but positive support by an artists easel and including an end tip, and a short mounting section of reduced crosssectional dimension spaced inwardly along said member a short distance from said tip,

maulstick support means comprising an elongate rigid support member,

mounting means for mounting said support member in a generally upright position offset on one side of an artists easel and approximately in the plane of the front legs of said easel between the upper and lower extremities thereof,

said support member having a forward face portion extending along its length with means defining a series of vertically spaced and forwardly opening notch means along the length of said face,

each said notch means being sized to receive and support said reduced mounting section of said maulstick and enable pivoting movement of said maulstick while restricting axial movement thereof.

2. An attachment according to claim [wherein said mounting means includes a horizontally extending elongate brace member with means at one end thereof for connecting said mounting brace member to an upper portion of said support member and means at at least one other point along its length for connecting said brace member to a front leg of an easel, and means for connecting a lower portion of said support member to an adjacent end portion of a horizontal work support portion of an easel.

3. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein the end of said brace member opposite said one end and said first end portion of said maulstick include cooperative means for hanging said maulstick from said opposite end when said maulstick is not in use.

4. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein said notch means extend inwardly and downwardly at an angle to resist unintentional removal of said maulstick.

5. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein the front openings of said notch means are smaller than the minimum cross-sectional dimensions of said maulstick adjoining said reduced mounting section but are larger than the minimum cross-sectional dimensions of said mounting section such that only said mounting section of said maulstick can be inserted in said notch means.

6. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein said support member is of right angle cross-sectional shape so as to define two intersecting flange sections, one said flange section extending forwardly from its intersection with the other said flange section with said support member operatively mounted, said forward face of said support member comprising a forward edge surface of said one flange section, said notch means comprising a series of vertically spaced notches extending into said one flange from said forward edge surface.

7. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein said support member has a length at least substantially as great as the height of the artists work surface and said maulstick has a length at least substantially as great as the length of the artists work surface. 

1. A handrest attachment for an artist''s easel including a maulstick, said maulstick comprising a thin, elongate, substantially rigid and straight member including first and second opposite end portions separated by a relatively long intermediate portion upon which the artist rests his working hand, said first end portion being adapted to be held in the artist''s nonworking hand, said intermediate portion being of substantially uniform crosssectional dimension throughout at least a major portion of its length, said second end portion being adapted for loose but positive support by an artist''s easel and including an end tip, and a short mounting section of reduced cross-sectional dimension spaced inwardly along said member a short distance from said tip, maulstick support means comprising an elongate rigid support member, mounting means for mounting said support member in a generally upright position offset on one side of an artist''s easel and approximately in the plane of the front legs of said easel between the upper and lower extremities thereof, said support member having a forward face portion extending along its length with means defining a series of vertically spaced and forwardly opening notch means along the length of said face, each said notch means being sized to receive and support said reduced mounting section of said maulstick and enable pivoting movement of said maulstick while restricting axial movement thereof.
 2. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein said mounting means includes a horizontally extending elongate brace member with means at one end thereof for connecting said mounting brace member to an upper portion of said support member and means at at least one other point along its length for connecting said brace member to a front leg of an easel, and means for connecting a lower portion of said support member to an adjacent end portion of a horizontal work support portion of an easel.
 3. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein the end of said brace member opposite said one end and said first end portion of said maulstick include cooperative means for hanging said maulstick from said opposite end when said maulstick is noT in use.
 4. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein said notch means extend inwardly and downwardly at an angle to resist unintentional removal of said maulstick.
 5. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein the front openings of said notch means are smaller than the minimum cross-sectional dimensions of said maulstick adjoining said reduced mounting section but are larger than the minimum cross-sectional dimensions of said mounting section such that only said mounting section of said maulstick can be inserted in said notch means.
 6. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein said support member is of right angle cross-sectional shape so as to define two intersecting flange sections, one said flange section extending forwardly from its intersection with the other said flange section with said support member operatively mounted, said forward face of said support member comprising a forward edge surface of said one flange section, said notch means comprising a series of vertically spaced notches extending into said one flange from said forward edge surface.
 7. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein said support member has a length at least substantially as great as the height of the artist''s work surface and said maulstick has a length at least substantially as great as the length of the artist''s work surface. 